Maharashtra cabinet expansion stalls over power play between allies

Deadlock between ruling allies in Maharashtra continues over cabinet expansion; NCP's Ajit Pawar insists on plum portfolios; Shiv Sena, BJP not keen; Congress demands President's rule; BJP State chief confident of 'Mahayuti' winning 200 seats in 2024.

The much-awaited expansion of the Maharashtra cabinet continues to be shrouded in suspense, more than ten days after Ajit Pawar, a rebel leader from the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), took oath as the deputy Chief Minister.

According to highly placed sources in the government, the delay primarily stems from an ongoing deadlock between the ruling allies: the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the rebel NCP faction. Mr. Pawar was insisting on plum portfolios — including Irrigation, Energy, Rural Development, Finance, and Excise, among others — for himself and eight of his NCP ministers, while the Chief Minister, Mr. Shinde, and his BJP deputy, Devendra Fadnavis, reiterated their stance of not giving away certain portfolios, they said.

“Their repeated meetings, including the recent one which lasted till late at night at Varsha Bungalow — the official residence of the Chief Minister — did not yield any result, as the three of them were not on the same page. Mr. Ajit Pawar is very particular about getting Irrigation portfolio for himself and other key portfolios for senior leaders of his faction, including Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse-Patil and Hasan Mushrif,” a Shiv Sena leader said. 

That meeting lasted till 2:30 a.m on Tuesday, and since there was no progress, Mr. Ajit Pawar went to Delhi to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday to ask him to mediate and accommodate his Ministers with key portfolios. After returning on Thursday, Mr. Ajit Pawar met Mr. Fadnavis amid speculation about the allocation of portfolios.

“Since he was not happy with the portfolios offered to his Ministers, Mr. Ajit Pawar went to Delhi on Wednesday night to meet Mr. Shah before the expansion of the cabinet which is likely to take place anytime this week. Our party Ministers are seniors, so naturally, we should get better portfolios,” a senior NCP leader told The Hindu. 

The Shiv Sena leader quoted earlier said that Aditi Tatkare — daughter of the Ajit Pawar NCP faction’s State chief Sunil Tatkare — was likely to get the Woman and Child Welfare portfolio, since she is the only woman Minister in the current cabinet.